Gaff combinations explained: mixing gimmicks and sleights

A gaff combination is any routine that uses more than one secret at once: a gaff card mixed into an ordinary deck, a trick deck backed up by a sleight or a deck switch, or two gimmicks working in the same routine. Magicians combine methods because each one covers the other’s weak spot. The cost is more to carry, more to practise and more that can go wrong, so add one secret at a time.

Why would anyone mix two secrets?

Every gimmick has a limit. A Svengali deck can’t be handed out. A double backer gives itself away if both sides are seen at the wrong moment. A stripper deck breaks down if a card ends up pointing the wrong way. Sooner or later most card magicians notice that the strongest tricks they see aren’t done with one secret. They’re done with two or three small ones, each covering for the others.

We’ve covered the individual gaffs already. This post is about putting them together.

What is a gaff combination?

A quick refresher on the jargon. A gimmick is “a secret part or object used to make the trick work.” A gaff is a gimmick “designed to look like something real while accomplishing some secret task,” such as a card with two backs. A force is a way to make a spectator select a card you chose, “despite the appearance of a free choice.”

A gaff combination is simply a routine that uses more than one of these at once. In practice it comes in three shapes:

• A gaff card in an ordinary deck. One special card, such as a blank-face card or a double blank, does a single job inside a deck that is otherwise normal.
• A trick deck plus technique. The deck does the heavy lifting and a force, a switch or a control covers what the deck can’t do.
• Two gimmicks in one routine. Each gimmick produces one moment, and the routine is built so neither is exposed by the other.

Our guide to self-working vs gimmick vs sleight of hand calls the middle ground “hybrid” magic. Gaff combinations are the card magician’s version of that idea.

How do gaff combinations work?

The principle is cover. Each method has a moment where it’s weak, and the second method is placed exactly there.

The old books show this clearly. Professor Hoffmann, in Modern Magic (1876), explains that a long card (one card slightly longer or wider than the rest) lets you cut to it at will, but that it is “comparatively useless unless you are proficient in ‘forcing.’” The gaff finds the card; the sleight makes sure the spectator picks it. Neither works alone.

Hoffmann also shows the most common combination of all: a trick deck plus a deck switch. In one routine, after the cards are forced, the performer “if he has used a forcing pack, exchanges that pack for an ordinary one.” The forcing pack does the work, then disappears before anyone can look at it.

The same thinking applies to a single gaff card in a normal deck. Our blank decks guide describes a standard sleight such as a double lift being used so the card the audience thinks they see is really a blank one. The handling is ordinary; the gaff makes the result look impossible.

When do magicians combine gaffs?

• When the deck needs to be examined. A gimmicked deck does the trick, then an ordinary deck is switched in, as in Hoffmann’s routine above.
• When one gimmick can’t do the whole effect. T. Nelson Downs, in The Art of Magic (1909), describes a card that turns up in a borrowed watch. A miniature card is hidden in the watch, and then, he writes, “All that remains is to force an ace of clubs.” The gimmick makes the ending; the force makes the beginning match it.
• When a routine needs several moments. Hoffmann describes a trick in which a chosen card changes into a series of funny portraits. It uses a forcing pack, a set of specially drawn cards and a sleight he calls the slip, all in one short routine.
• When you want a gaff to stay hidden. Using a gaff card with real cards around it is what keeps it invisible. Plenty of routines call for a normal deck plus a few special cards, and that’s what mixed sets of gaff cards are for.

How do you learn to combine gaffs?

Be honest with yourself about difficulty. Each extra secret adds a moment you have to manage, and the joins between methods are where most mistakes happen. A good order to learn in:

1. Learn each method alone first. Get comfortable with one trick deck and one gaff card before you mix them.
2. Add one piece of technique. A simple force, such as the ones in our card forces guide, opens up a lot of combinations.
3. Script the joins. Know exactly what you say and do at the moment one method hands over to the next. That’s where the audience’s attention needs to be somewhere else.
4. Rehearse the reset. Combined routines usually need more set-up. Practise putting everything back so you can perform it again without a scramble.

Hoffmann’s view in 1876 was that gaffs were “makeshifts or substitutes for sleight-of-hand” and that top professionals avoided them. That isn’t how most magicians see it today: gimmicks and technique are treated as tools that work best together, which is the whole point of a combination.

Products that help

• Gaff Deck by Bigmagie: 56 Bicycle Rider back cards printed by the US Playing Card Company, with double-faced and double-backed cards, cards with multiple backs or faces, double-index court cards, white-backed and multicoloured aces, jokers and duplicates. The description says it covers the cards needed for effects such as Wild Card and MacDonald’s Aces. It’s sold without instructions, so it suits someone who already has routines in mind.
• Modern Magic by Professor Hoffmann (1876): our free ebook. Its card chapter covers forcing packs, long cards and tapering packs side by side with the sleights used alongside them, which makes it a good place to see combinations in their simplest form.

Common mistakes with gaff combinations

• Stacking secrets for the sake of it. More gimmicks don’t make a stronger trick. If one method does the job, use one.
• Weak joins. The moment you switch from one method to another is the riskiest part of the routine. If it isn’t covered by something natural, the audience will notice.
• Forgetting what can’t be shown. With two gaffs in play, it’s easy to flash one while managing the other. Know which cards and which sides are never seen.
• Handing out the wrong deck. If you plan to let someone examine the cards, the gimmicked deck has to be gone first.
• Trusting a fragile gaff. Hoffmann warned that the tapering pack “is treacherous”: one card replaced the wrong way round causes a breakdown. Combine methods so a small slip in one doesn’t sink the whole trick.

Frequently asked questions